New brakes - worth spending extra?

[Hogweed]

Car (Vauxhall Insignia, diesel, 2015) needs front discs and pads

For an old man like me who drives pretty sedately, is there any advantage in buying expensive ones?

ECP have (per disc):

Audura £31
Pagid £73
Eicher £47
Brembo £64

And pads are:

Audura £26
Eicher £33
Pagid £44
Bosch £48
Brembo £55

So I could pay anything from £88 to £200… any thoughts?

I bought the car with only 7000 miles on the clock, and added another 11000 of my own – so I’m surprised to see that the disks are deeply scored, and have a pretty deep lip round the outside after what I would consider to be a small mileage

My days of being a "performance driver" are over, so the car has an easy life I'd say

[brillomaster]

Never heard of audura so I'd avoid them. Eicher were fine for me in the past, I'd use them.

[21TonyK]

Personally, I pay more attention to the pads than the discs.

[Busa mav]

Seem to remember that Eicher are standard Volvo fitment ?

[KTMsm]

For your use it's not worth spending the extra on OEM or big name brands but it is absolutely worth buying reasonable quality discs (for longevity) and pads (for stopping ability) combined with decent tyres

I was going to skimp on my van's tyres but in a test 70-0 on a wet motorway when continentals had stopped Linglongs (or similar) were still at 20 mph

Pads aren't as important as tyres but they're not far behind

The problem these days is trying to find out which are any good - most of those are made by a couple of big companies

People say they are all good as "they are made by the same company" but so was a 1.0 Fiesta and a Sierra Cosworth

[Scrump]

I chatted with the chap on the Brembo stand at the Annual Service. He was trying to sell 6 pot caliper upgrades but I asked him about the Brembo discs and pads from ECP.

I asked if they were to OEM standard and if they were made by Brembo or made under license and just branded as Brembo.
He said they were all made by Brembo and to the same quality as made for the car manufacturers.

[E-bmw]

Of those names Pagid/Bosch/Brembo would be on my shopping list but definitely not Eicher or Audora.

[vw_99]

Coming from a factors back ground they all seem dear to me. I know prices have shot up. But is there not another motor factors near by to nip in and ask.

Also have you double checled disc size

[KTMsm]

E-bmw said:

Of those names Pagid/Bosch/Brembo would be on my shopping list but definitely not Eicher or Audora.

Pagid aren't really Pagid any more

Eicher are part of a massive group so could be the same or better than Bosch who aren't known for their brakes

[SlimJim16v]

Look at the machining on these brembos. One side is thicker than the other, the thin side would be at the bottom of the wear limit, the other end has the thick and thin sides reversed, so the vent is actually diagonal.
Sent them back, only use EBC now.

[andye30m3]

I would tend to go with the Brembo, pagid or a least a brand I' heard off. Having said that I used cheap stuff on an old diesel Mercedes I had and I was fine.

Also worth looking at www.partsinmotion.co.uk I tend to find them better value than ECP's these days.

[Hogweed]

Well, I've decided I'm no longer up to doing jobs like this myself (getting on a bit, plus sloped driveway makes lifting the car here a no-no), so I've booked it in.

The guy says they'll be either PAGID or APEC - whichever is available from their supplier.

Thanks everybody for your helpful comments - much appreciated

[stevieturbo]

Depending on model.....Parts in Motion seem cheaper ? I've bought a few items from them and the service has been very good.

https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-parts/braking/...

https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-parts/braking/...

A lot more options too.

[ARHarh]

stevieturbo said:

Depending on model.....Parts in Motion seem cheaper ? I've bought a few items from them and the service has been very good.

https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-parts/braking/...

https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-parts/braking/...

A lot more options too.

Been buying parts from parts in motion for years now quick service good choice and sensible prices, can't fault them.